An Easy DIY Farmhouse Console Table

This post has easy plans for a DIY farmhouse console table, complete with ways to style it as an entry table. Give any entryway or foyer a rustic, custom look!

Well, it only took us four months, but the console table I’ve wanted for our foyer for the longest time is finally finished! 😉

That’s what we get for trying to start a DIY project during the holidays. We had the best of intentions when we bought the supplies and started this project in late October, but (as normally happens during the holidays), our schedule blew up and we just had zero time to finish it. The unfinished table sat in our garage for months! But, early this year, we buckled down one weekend and finally got this beauty ready for our foyer.

And I am just so thrilled with the result. I wanted a little pop of color with the piece – I think I achieved it. 😉 It’s a gorgeous, bright blue that really stands out. I’ve thought about staining it to mute it down a little, but most of my followers on Instagram voted for me not to when I put up a poll a month or so ago. So, bright blue it is (for now).

I love the farmhouse look of this console table. It really matches what we’ve got going on in the rest of the house and has become such a focal piece for the foyer. And I love knowing we made it ourselves (for much cheaper than we could have purchased it).

Want to make one of these beauties for yourself? I’ve outlined exactly how we did it below!

Step 2: Make your cuts and drill pocket holes.

Before I ever start, I like to go on and get all of my cuts out of the way. It seems to make the rest of the project so much easier…just pull the pieces as you need them.

This is the plan I used for the cuts – you can download a pdf of this here. Really, the top of the plan is just a visual – use the bottom “cuts needed” section to make to cut all of your pieces. And, when in doubt, make those 1×2 12.25″ cuts a little long. I originally planned on those being 13″, but I had to go back later and cut some off to fit the table. You can always cut off a little later, but you can’t add back! Same with the 9.25″ pieces – I had to take a smidge off to fit our table, but that can be done later if needed.

Once your wood is cut, go on and make all of your pocket holes as well. You’ll need 2 pocket holes in the end of each 40″ and 9.25″ 2x4s (so 4 total in each piece). It’s kind of a tight fit to put 4 total pocket holes in each 5″ piece (2 at each end), but it is doable. You can see the picture below to see how close we had to put them.

Step 3: Assemble table ends and attach.

Now, assembly can start! Take 2 of your 30″ 2×4 pieces and attach them with 2 of the 5″ pieces. It helped me to lay all 4 pieces in place flat on the floor and to push what will be the top of the table up against the wall – this helps make sure the 5″ piece at the top is flush with the top of the 2 30″ pieces (so you’ll have a nice flat table top). Drill the 2.5″ pocket hole screws into each pre-drilled pocket hole in the 5″ pieces to attach the four pieces of wood. The top 5″ piece is flush with the top of the 30″ pieces; the bottom 5″ piece is 2″ up from the bottom of the 30″ pieces to give the table feet.

You’ll assemble 2 of these end pieces; one for each side of the table.

Once the two end pieces are finished, you’ll use the 40″ 2x4s to attach the ends. The top 2 40″ pieces will be vertical and will line up with the outside corners of the end pieces. Drill the 2.5″ pocket hole screws into the pre-drilled holes in the 40″ pieces to attach to the first end piece.

The bottom 2 40″ pieces will be horizontal. They will be flush with the top of the lower 5″ piece (I hope that’s not confusing; see picture to better explain). Place these 40″ pieces where the pocket holes will be facing towards the ground in the final product and attach with pocket hole screws. Once the four 40″ pieces are attached, your table should look something like the picture above.

Lay the other end piece on the floor (with the outside facing the floor and pocket holes facing up), flip what you’ve assembled so far onto it, and line up everything just like you did on the first end piece. Drop pocket hole screws into each of the pocket holes on the 40″ pieces to attach the other end. When you’re finished, you should have something like what I have pictured above!

Step 4: Attach bottom cross slats.

If you’ve already made your cuts, you should have 25 1×2″ pieces. Line those up between the two end pieces with a small gap in between each (I didn’t really measure these gaps, I just made sure the pieces were evenly spaced). Put the two 5″ 1×2 pieces in the gaps between the end pieces to complete your bottom row.

Once these are lined up, check to make sure all of the 1x2s are the same length and adjust as needed.

Once they’re lined up and all the same length, simply nail in place! Our air compressor made this job a hundred times easier, but this can be done with just a hammer and 1.5″ nails. I just put one nail in each end of each slat.

Step 4: Attach farmhouse table top.

The final two 9.25″ 2x4s that you haven’t used yet are going to be the support beams for your table top.

These should already have pocket holes in them. The easiest way to put these in place is to turn your table over onto a flat surface and lay these supports flush with the top of the table to attach them.

These don’t have to be spaced perfectly, since nobody will ever really see them; just kind of divide your table into thirds and place these 1/3 of the way and 2/3 way into the length of the table. Drill 2.5″ pocket hole screws into each pocket hole.

Then, center one of your 2×6″ top pieces (both vertically and horizontally) on the table top and use 2 2.5″ self-tapping screws on each side to attach. I also put a screw into each support slat for this one (so this center beam will have 6 total screws in it). Once the center piece is in place, line up one of the other top pieces and attach with a 2.5″ self-tapping screw on each side (making sure you’re drilling into the table when you attach) and 1 screw in each support slat. When drilling all of these, make sure to drive them in deep so the holes can be filled later.

Now, you have a table! Let’s make it pretty.

Step 6: Fill, sand, paint, and stain.

First, go on and fill your top screw marks in with a wood filler. This is the one I used for this project – it stained perfectly. You’d never know there were screw holes in the top!

Once that is dry, give every exposed surface a good sand. My edges had a little bit of a rough edge to them, so we sanded that down and took off any sharp corners to give it a slightly weathered look.

Then the fun part – paint! For my little pop of color in this project, I used Deep Sea Diving by Valspar. It only takes about a quart to complete the whole bottom of this table.

Give it about 2 coats to completely cover. The hardest part is getting between those bottom slats – having a bristled brush helped with that.

And, if/when the paint pools between those bottom slats, simply run a piece of card stock in between the pieces of wood to separate it before it dries.

I just use a cheap sponge brush and an old t-shirt to apply stain (I saved the scraps from my t-shirt quilt years ago and have been using them for projects like this ever since). Lightly brush it on, let sit for a few minutes (longer if you want a deeper stain), then wipe off the extra gunkiness with the old shirt. Repeat until you get the color as deep as you’d like it.

And, anytime you stain, you have to seal. Let your stain dry for an hour or so before applying this. This has been my long-time favorite polyurethane – it goes on so easily, has a quick clean-up if needed, and is incredibly durable.

Pour a little on (it’s going to look like glue, don’t freak out) and spread with another sponge brush. It might have a slightly milky look to it even after you spread it; that goes away as it dries. Make sure to get the sides as well; anything that has been stained needs to be sealed. (It’s not necessary to seal the paint.)

You want coats on the thinner side. Let the first coat dry for about 30 minutes and repeat as needed. I put 2 coats on this piece since I knew it wouldn’t get a ton of wear and tear; you might want as many as 5-6 if this is going to be a heavy-traffic table.

Was this table a little bit of work? Sure it was. But this is truly something we’ll be able to treasure in our home for years to come. I just love the result!

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